MANILA – Above-expectations expansion of the economy in the last quarter of 2021 pushed the local stocks gauge higher on Thursday while the peso finished sideways against the US dollar.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 0.27 percent, or 19.91 points, to 7,273.52 points.
All Shares followed with a jump of 0.14 percent, or 5.38 points, to 3,861.49 points.
Most of the sectoral gauges also improved during the day, namely Financials, 1.34 percent; Services, 0.62 percent; Industrial, 0.32 percent; and Property, 0.004 percent.
On the other hand, Mining and Oil fell by 1.99 percent and Holding firms by 0.26 percent.
Volume reached 1.66 billion shares amounting to PHP6.25 billion.
Decliners led advancers at 102 to 74, while 62 shares were unchanged.
“Philippine shares went against the downtrend the rest of the region experience(d) as Q4 GDP (fourth quarter gross domestic product) surprised on the upside,” said Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation (RCDC) head of sales.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported during the day the 7.7-percent expansion of the domestic economy in the last quarter of 2021, higher than the previous quarter’s 6.9 percent and year-ago’s -8.3 percent print.
Full-year growth stood at 5.6 percent, higher than the government’s 5 to 5.5 percent assumption.
“This was enough to pull up sentiment, as markets globally have been experiencing a sell-off as Treasury yields spiked after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell signaled the central bank will steadily remove support for the economy,” Limlingan said.
Powell, in a briefing after the two-day policy meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on January 26, indicated a likely rate normalization starting in March this year.
Meanwhile, the local currency continued its sideways close against the greenback after finishing Thursday at 51.34 from 51.29 a day ago.
It opened the trade at 51.45, weaker than its 51.25 start in the previous session.
It traded between 51.45 and 51.295, bringing the day’s average to 51.393.
Volume reached USD886.8 million, higher than the USD787.8 million on Wednesday. (PNA)
